


Aya Is for Lovers

by adjectivebear (HealerAriel)



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, First Date, adorable nerds being adorable, also some Aya description porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 19:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10771332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HealerAriel/pseuds/adjectivebear
Summary: Their first date on Aya may have gotten off to a rough start, but it takes more than that to ruin a day in paradise. (Spoilers for Day Out on Aya)





	Aya Is for Lovers

Aya was amazing.

It reminded Liam of vids he’d seen of Hawaii, or Fiji, or the Bahamas, except weird and alien and _brilliant_. Lush, sun-warmed plants filled the warm air with a heady perfume that drove his brain half-mad in the vain attempt to match the scent to something it knew. Small creatures with fur, scales, and feathers darted through the brush and across pathways or flitted from branch to branch, behaving so similarly to Earth animals, but looking so incredibly different. Hell, even the drinks nearly drove him to distraction, his mind scrambling to identify the new flavours hitting his tongue.

It was _so_ freaking wild.

He should have brought a camera. A real, proper camera. He’d had one back home, barely used. He’d told himself there was no point. The only time he went anywhere exciting was after there’d been a disaster, and that was hardly the time or place for photo ops. Later, Initiative weight limits being what they were, it hadn’t even occurred to him to bring it along.

Figured he’d be kicking himself for it now. Yeah, the omni-tool’s image capture function was fine, but it didn’t come close to the depth and resolution you could get with the right equipment. What good was it being part of the first Milky Way crew allowed to set foot on the planet if all he’d have to prove it to his grandkids were low-res omni-tool snaps?

“ _Heeeey_ , buddy.”

Well, okay. There was that.

Liam bit back a smile as Grace inched closer to the creature’s perch. The object of her fascination was a brightly-coloured, vaguely reptilian animal about the size of an iguana, but with leathery, bat-like wings instead of front legs. Its large yellow eyes regarded the two of them warily, but it made no attempt to flee. The fanned tip of its tail flicked apprehensively.

“Maybe _don’t_ try to pet this one?” Liam said, discreetly setting his omni-tool to record in case she did just that.

For science.

“Hi, sweetie,” Grace cooed softly, the finger she lifted into the air the only indication that she’d heard him. “You’re just so pretty. Can I scan you?”

Her scanner flared to life and the creature spooked, letting out a shrill cry as it disappeared into the canopy.

“Guess not.”  
  
“He’s probably just shy around girls,” Liam said, handing back her bottle of… well, he didn’t remember what the bartender at the Tavetaan had called it, actually, but it was fizzy and tasted kind of like a weird blend of strawberries, basil, and rum.

“Or weird furry aliens,” Grace suggested.

They continued along the path, pausing every now and then to take the odd photo or scan some new and colourful flora or fauna. After a while they came to a dead end by one of the city’s waterfalls, and they stopped. A break in the foliage afforded a view of the jungle below, and they leaned against the railing, staring into the distance where brilliant greenery gave way to blackened volcanic rock and bubbling lava.

Grace sighed. “ _God_ , this place.”

Mist from the waterfall clung in tiny droplets to her sleek chestnut hair, glittering like diamonds in the afternoon sun. Her nose, cheeks, and shoulders had started to go a bit pink beneath their sprinkling of tawny freckles.

Liam smiled. “Yeah.”

“Kudos, by the way.”

“Kudos?”

“You took a day on what might be the most beautiful place in the galaxy and managed to turn it into totally unsexy corporate espionage,” Grace said, giving him a cheeky smirk. “ _Probably_ the least romantic date I’ve ever been on, and I’m including the time my lab partner decided I owed him a beej because he brought tacos to our study session.”

“Oof. Grim.”

“Yeah, no kidding, they weren’t even good.”

Liam laughed. “Well. At least he learned his lesson, eh?”

Grace pulled a face.

“Aw, Grace, you _didn’t_.”

“There… _may_ have been some self-esteem issues in play?”

Liam tamped down the completely irrational impulse to fight someone who’d almost certainly been dead for at least five hundred years.  
  
“So, yeah,” Grace continued. “New record. This calls for–”

Her lips were soft and plush, her open mouth pliant against his. Her cheeks, smoother than silk, warmed beneath his palms. She tasted of what they’d drunk, but so much sweeter, her little sigh of pleasure more intoxicating than the finest liquor. He would have been extremely content to spend the rest of the day seeing what other sounds he could coax out of her.  

But it was a first date. And he was a gentleman.

He released her lips slowly, gently suckling the lower between his own as he pulled away. Grace’s eyes fluttered open belatedly. She looked slightly dazed, her cheeks even pinker under the sunburn, and Liam chuckled, resting his forehead against hers.

“ _Oh_.”

Liam grinned, bumping his nose lightly against hers. “Had to at least beat out the taco guy,” he explained.

And, one day, to be able to tell his grandkids that his first kiss in Andromeda had been on the most beautiful planet in the galaxy, with the most amazing girl in the universe.


End file.
